In addition to her successes as an actress and her respectable reputation, Reese Witherspoon is the envy of millions of Twilighters after working alongside superstar heartthrob Robert Pattinson in not one, but two films — not to mention the fact that she's kissed him too.

When MTV News caught up with Witherspoon recently as part of "MTV First: This Means War," we asked her the first thing that comes to mind when she thinks of her "Water for Elephants" and "Vanity Fair" co-star.

"I would say [he is] the hardest-working person I've ever worked with, honestly," she said. "[He's] professional, hard-working, so appreciative, more grateful than I've ever seen anyone for where he is in life."

Given the fact that Witherspoon has been in the business for decades and experienced every facet of being famous, we asked her to weigh in on the current fan frenzy that surrounds Pattinson wherever he goes and how it may or may not affect a person.

"I've never experienced what he has — going to premieres and there's just millions of people waiting for him to touch them," she said. "I think it must be strange, but I don't even know how to process what he deals with and Kristen [Stewart] deals with. I don't know."

The Oscar-winning actress said Pattinson handles his fame very well, despite the sometimes-chaotic circumstances. "[He's]a really cool guy," she said.

Friday, January 27, 2012

A natural musician -- he starred in the Beatles-based "Across the Universe" -- Anderson worked on three projects in one year -- "The River," "The Grey" and "Breaking Dawn."

And then? Then there's "Breaking Dawn," the last two parts of the "Twilight" saga. In the vampire drama, Anderson plays Alistair, a particularly complex vampire who intercedes for the Cullens. The actor read the books, saw the early films and "tried to absorb as much as I could" but knew he'd never be as savvy about the character as some of the popular books' fans.

No sweat. "It's nice to play against the grain of the film," Anderson says. "He can do what he wants because he is who he is."

The 29-year-old British-born actor, however, didn't realize the devotion of "Twilight's" fan base.

"I hadn't even arrived at the motel and already there was fan mail. They figured out where I was going to be -- and I didn't even know. But every one of those letters was so genuine and so sweet."

The creepy stuff? That was saved for other actors. "A woman was standing outside the Sutton Place in Vancouver with a pair of scissors. She had flown from England to cut some of Robert Pattinson's hair for a doll."

"Breaking Dawn, Part II" (slated for release in the fall) came with such high financial stakes "tension was ripe," Anderson says. "There's not a lot of rehearsal. So before a scene with Kristen (Stewart) I had to gun up the character from the trailer to the stage. It's the first time you see this guy come to life. But until you get the gear on, you're not quite sure what he's going to be."

- 1st thing Bill says is he hopes the cut scene of the Volturi from the beginning "will make it to a longer cut years down the line" YEARS?!- Bill: "Kristen...I don't know if everyone knows this...she's the ultimate Twi-hard."- Bill Condon is pretty much fangirling over Kristen during this entire commentary...- re: last week of shooting & filming Jacob/Bella dance "These 3 actors knew this was the last time they would be playing these parts ever, and they were very aware of it and Kristen's not overtly sentimental but I think there were a lot of tears on all sides"- Bill Condon: "I could spend this entire commentary gushing about these actors & I'll try not to"- Did we know that Lizzy Pattinson "sings" in the music as B/E drive away from Forks for their honeymoon? I don't think I did."Kristen...she's growing up so fast...I think she looks especially beautiful in this chunk of the movie." (honeymoon)- Re: honeymoon sex "I think people know there was an earlier more explicit version of this..it wasn't that much different but there was more a sense probably that they were having sex"- "That thrust that he did just as we fade out...we had a little more of that, so we sort of pulled back on that"- "They were great sports about it & obviously very comfortable w/ each other..I can't imagine this without their comfort level w/ each other"- Re: Rob & Bella black lingerie "His reaction was just completely him responding in the moment...I love it, its just great to see him smile"- Theme that opens the movie is a snippet of Renesmee's Lullaby, and they also use a bit of it on the beach when Jacob talks about imprinting.- They shot the scene from the book of Bella and Edward acknowledging that they've figured out a way to have sex without destroying the house or injuring Bella and Bella tossing around the idea of staying human a little longer. Bill really liked it but felt it didn't go anywhere dramatically. - Bill talking about Kristen cooking for him in Baton Rouge ("a great cook...an amazing cook")- re: their future - Bill can see Kristen as a director, Rob as a writer & Taylor as a producer and studio head.- re: Bella examining her tummy in the mirror "We debated if Kristen needed a little appliance, but she just stuck her belly out a little bit"- They also originally shot Peter and Ashley on the phone with Bella but decided they didn't want to make the cut away from Bella to show them- #ThePowerOfTwilight - It was apparently almost impossible to get a visa for the Brazilian actress playing Kaure so she could go to Baton Rouge to finish her scenes, and it took "someone calling someone who knew someone in the Obama White House and really getting some strings pulled"- They cut the Jacob throwing the dog bowl at Rosalie scene because it didn't feel right to have comic relief at that moment.- re: Edward hearing the baby scene & Rob/babies (I die!) "You look at Rob here, you get a little hint of what you'll see a lot of in the 2nd film. He is unbelievably tender with babies...with children...not just babies...he was with Mackenzie too. There's something that changes about him when he's with children. He's just so sweet and caring and I think you really get a little glimpse of that here."- Shooting the birth scene is one of the most memorable nights Bill has ever had on a movie set.- re: birth/trying to revive Bella - "You have this intensity from Rob and Taylor...because Kristen made it so real, they're imagining what it would be like to lose Kristen...both of them talked about that."- Kristen: "Yeah, we went to Rio during the rainy season....because we do stuff like that."- Filming R/K in the freezing waterfall...Someone to Bill (too lazy to check who it might be): "You see them shaking?" Bill: "I know, I know."

ETA: Another screencap of Rob and Kristen filming the wedding scene. Lol Rob (click for bigger)

- "Edward and Bella's Personal Wedding Video" are the characters speaking to B/E with their best wishes on their wedding and wedding footage- Kristen: "Go forward again." Rob: "I know how to drive a boat, alright?" Then Kristen literally straight up gives him the bitchface.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

We just got confirmation from Studio Canal UK via email that Rob, Uma Thurman, Christina Ricci and directors Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod will attend the 'Bel Ami' world premiere on February 17th at the Berlin Film Festival

Studio Canal's email:

Hi

We are delighted to confirm that the official World Premiere for Bel Ami will take place on February 17th, 2012 as part of the 62nd Berlin Film Festival. Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman, Christina Ricci and our directors Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod will walk the Berlin red carpet and give us the opportunity to complete press and launch the film across Europe in the best possible fashion.

On February 17th the passionate society drama Bel Ami celebrates its world premiere in Berlin. Star Feeling ensured, because leading actor Robert Pattinson will walk the red carpet together with his colleagues Uma Thurman and Christina Ricci to present the film. The movie starts on April 26th.

Thanks to Verena for sending the Studio Canal Germany link and Jules for translating :)

Eric Packer is about to embark upon the worst car ride of his life. Thankfully, Robert Pattinson — the actor who plays Packer in "Cosmopolis" — doesn't share his character's fate.

Pattinson fans came out in full force to elect "Cosmopolis" the winner of the MTV Movie Brawl 2012, a weeks-long tournament that pitted several of 2012's biggest releases against one another to determine which film is the must-see cinematic event of the year. After tense battles against titans like "Bel Ami," "The Twilight Saga - Breaking Dawn: Part 2," "The Dark Knight Rises" and "The Hunger Games," it's Pattinson's upcoming indie thriller that took home the grand prize.

It's a surprising result for many onlookers, given that "Cosmopolis" has yet to release a trailer and only has a tentative release date of 2012. But Rob's fans rallied behind their man, opting to support his future in "Cosmopolis" over his past in "Twilight" — a commanding decision from a massive fanbase that demands attention, to say the least. In fact, the movement was so strong that it even caught "Cosmopolis" director David Cronenberg's eye even before the film won the brawl for it all. Shortly after the victory was announced, Cronenberg got on the phone with MTV News to talk about what "Cosmopolis" winning the MTV Movie Brawl means for the film, Pattinson's performance, when fans can expect to see a trailer and much more.

MTV: David, thanks for talking with us! Have you been filled in on what's happened with "Cosmopolis" over here?David Cronenberg: You know, I've been following it! I'm shocked! I'm shocked and amazed and really tickled. It proves that movie fans are unpredictable and really interesting and really passionate. It's fantastic. I would have never, ever imagined that this would happen.

MTV: How did the tournament first get on your radar?Cronenberg: Somebody sent me something and said, "Hey, we seem to be doing OK in this Movie Brawl thing that MTV's got going on." I didn't know about it. At that point, we were struggling with "The Dark Knight," I think. I thought, "Wow, that's pretty impressive!" Because "Cosmopolis," while I think in terms of what it is as cinema is pretty hefty, but in terms of budget and promotion, it's an underdog compared to something like "The Dark Knight" franchise. I really didn't think we would have much of a chance. That really got my attention.

MTV: What's kind of incredible, too, is that right before that battle with Batman, "Cosmopolis" was up against "Twilight." It was Rob versus Rob! In what we saw, it seemed that fans were putting their votes towards Rob's future instead of his past.Cronenberg: Well, and I think that's one of the things that I meant when I said it was interesting. Because that's not the kind of thing you would predict. But it was really terrific, and in that sense, they're right. As I've said many times, if you're a "Twilight" fan, then you might not be interested in "Cosmopolis" because Rob is not Mr. Cullen. But if you're a Rob fan, then you've got to be interested in "Cosmopolis," because you will see him as you have not seen him before, for sure.

MTV: Clearly, there is a lot of interest in this movie, seeing that it came out ahead over movies like "Dark Knight," "Twilight" and "Hunger Games." There is a lot of attention on Rob, of course. Can you talk about your experience working with Rob, and the kind of actor you found him to be over the course of shooting "Cosmopolis"?Cronenberg: He's terrific. He deserves the affection that the fans have for him. He's incredibly sweet, he's very funny, he's very bright and he's also very knowledgeable about cinema. Not just movies but the history of cinema. He knows a lot about it. He's just a sweetheart. And he's totally professional. He's always right there. We had a lot of fun shooting [the movie] because, as I say, he has a great sense of humor. We just played a lot. I think that's a really great tone that's set for everybody on the set. The lead actor has a really big influence on the tone of the shoot. If you've got a guy who's very difficult and neurotic or whatever, they can't help but affect everybody's day. But Rob is not like that. He's just a ray of sunshine. In fact, he's in absolutely every scene of the movie, so obviously his temperament would have a huge influence on how the shoot went ... and it was a dream. It was a beautiful shoot.

MTV: I think one of the reasons why some are surprised with how this tournament played out is that most of the films that were competing have trailers. This one doesn't — at least not yet! When can fans expect to see a trailer?Cronenberg: We feel probably that this won't be released until next fall. It's not exactly a summer movie and it won't be ready for a while. The movie is finished, but something that fans maybe don't know is how long it takes a movie to get released. You want to do a couple of film festivals, the studios in each country have to get their materials ready. The photographs, the trailers, everything ... it takes a lot of time, you know? The other thing is, we kind of want to keep things a little bit of a secret until we unleash it on the world. We're pretty excited about it and we don't really want to let too much out about what it is and how it plays.

MTV: In terms of when this is coming out, you said perhaps fall of this year. So there's no firm release date just yet?Cronenberg: No, not at all. It's been sold to a lot of countries and distributors around the world, but for example, it does not yet have U.S. distribution. That's fine, because we didn't want to look for it until we had the finished film. But frankly, the Movie Brawl results might well help us get some good U.S. distribution! [He laughs.] I just thought of that, but you know, it's possible! It's interesting to hear that indication of interest before you even release a trailer — that's pretty darn good. But you can't release a trailer until you have a distributor, and a distributor has to really have all the material, so it takes a while.

MTV: Well, something close to 6 million votes were cast in this tournament, and almost 4 million were cast in this final poll alone. The numbers do not lie.Cronenberg: That's fantastic. That's just great. That's just great.

MTV: In the spirit of this tournament, what's the movie you're most excited to see in 2012? What's the film you can't wait to get your eyes on?Cronenberg: You know, I'm so focused on what I've been doing that I actually don't know what's around! It's strange. I haven't even caught up with last year's films. I have a movie out now called "A Dangerous Method" with Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender and Viggo Mortensen. I've been touring the world promoting that, been to a ton of film festivals, but I haven't had a chance to see any of the movies, because I'm constantly having to do interviews and stuff for that. Now, that's calmed down now that the movie has finally been released in the U.S., but the result is that I'm way behind on everything.

MTV: So you've got to catch up on 2011 before moving onto 2012.Cronenberg: That's right! Let me catch up first, and then I'll start thinking about 2012.

MTV: Finally, any last messages to the "Cosmopolis" fans who pushed this movie to the top?Cronenberg: They won't be disappointed in Rob. He is fantastic.

From the 'Bel Ami' production notes. Only posting the parts where Rob is mentioned. - you can read everything (full synopsis, production details and more about the rest of the cast and crew) here

Casting

"We asked actors that we really wanted to work with, people that we have admired for a long time, explains Donnellan of their casting choices. "Kristin Scott Thomas we know of old. Uma Thurman, Christina Ricci and Robert Pattinson we have always admired. There’s also Colm Meaney, a wonderful Irish actor who plays Rousset and Phillip Glenister. They are all actors we love."

Ormerod and Donnellan were thrilled to be working with such a diverse cast. Donnellan describes the moment that the actors turned up for rehearsals. "It was absolutely fantastic to see them arriving one after another. They are all incredibly professional and great fun with wicked senses of humour in their own different ways; Uma, Kristin and Christina are all very different people. We had a ball, an absolutely wonderful time because the material was so fantastic, the roles and screenplay are fantastic. Everybody felt like they were being stretched, especially us because it was our first movie. Kristin, Christina, Uma and Robert would all agree that they were doing things they hadn’t done before, which was what made it so thrilling."

Talking about Georges' costumes

Dicks-Mireaux explains how the costumes she designed for Georges help to tell the story of his progression throughout the film. "He wears black virtually all the way. Maupassant writes very clearly about starching, and we spend a lot of time and effort on the shirts. This period is a very transitional period between the boiled shirt and the pleated shirt so we’ve done a combination of the two. We’ve engineered this ingenious way of making sure we can always have the stiff cuffs. I’ve gone for very high collars on Robert because he suits them really well and it makes them all stand up correctly. If you look at the British royal family they seem to wear a slightly broader look. You look at the French drawings and they seem to have a much tighter, narrower look - a bit like Christian Dior suits: that very pinched, nice, narrow, elegant, long lined leg. He had a journey and then right at the end of the journey he sort of dips and goes a little bit more bourgeois and slightly pompous. He thought he might have a moustache at the end."

Georges 'Bel Ami' Duroy

The central character of Georges was a complex and captivating subject for Rachel Bennette, as she explains. "Georges is a difficult character, that’s what makes him so fascinating. He’s quite enigmatic in certain respects and he’s not a typical character in many ways. He’s very reactive as opposed to the active protagonist that you’re used to. So it was a question of trying to get the measure of him."

"He never works and he still gets it all. That’s what’s so maddening about Georges Duroy," Donnellan concurs. "He gets the lot with no effort and it’s something we have to live with. Georges has a talent to get to the top and he’s a businessman with one commodity to sell. Another thrilling thing about Georges is his emptiness; people can project anything into him which is another reason why he’s so successful."

Bennette concludes: "I find Georges really compelling, even if I don’t always like him. There’s something about his audacity, and his daring, and his absolute refusal to be told his place. And there is something quite appealing about that: essentially it is a kind of mad courage that he has."

The final buzzer has sounded, the brawl for it all is over, and Robert Pattinson is the last man standing: "Cosmopolis" has won MTV Movie Brawl 2012.

His indie drama made for one hell of a Cinderella story in the vote-driven tournament to pick the must-see movie of the year. Entering the bracket as a #4 seed (following an impressive showing in the play-in round), "Cosmopolis" appeared to be facing an unavoidable Elite Eight ouster. What were the chances Pattinson's cerebral film about a young finance wiz taking a day-long limo ride though New York City would beat "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2"? Apparently pretty good. Fans banded together, choosing to support RPattz's post-vampire career rather than the franchise that made him a star. "Breaking Dawn" was sent packing.

And so, after easily fighting off "The Dark Knight Rises," "Cosmopolis" came to face "The Hunger Games," a brand-new franchise that had waltzed through the tournament and seemed to be the odds-on favorite to win the whole tourney. But it was not to be. After more than 3 million votes and a slew of lead changes, Pattinson's film beat back Jennifer Lawrence's series to become the undisputed champion of the Movie Brawl.

Hours before voting closed Monday afternoon (January 23), with "Cosmopolis" staking out an insurmountable lead and the MTV Movies team at the Sundance Film Festival, we broke the news to Pattinson's co-star, Paul Giamatti, that their film had won the tournament.

"Holy cow, that's astounding!" he said. "The fact of that is amazing. ... That's a really cool thing that it brings that visibility to that movie."

It's been a whirlwind few weeks in the tournament, so we'd like to thank all the fans who voted. The Brawl broke bigger than we could have ever hoped. Well over 5 million votes were cast. The competition spread wildly over Twitter and Facebook. Our comments sections caught fire as fans debated, argued and rallied. In the end, though, only one film could stand as the undisputed champion of the MTV Movie Brawl. Pattinson, Giamatti, director David Cronenberg and everyone connected to "Cosmopolis" — we salute you!

You’ve spoken publicly about your love for Twilight. What is it about the series that you love so much?I would say that you completely lose yourself in the purest form of romance. It’s the first time in so long that you get to see such a strong love, and get so caught up in it without any of the physicality

You’ve also been outspoken about your crush on Robert Pattinson. Have you gotten to meet him yet?No, I have not met Rob. But, I have many mutual friends and have heard nothing but the loveliest things about him. I think he’s a very talented actor and would love to meet him in the future.

If you could style any of the Twilight cast, who would you pick and why?Bella and Edward — I would love to dress them as a couple because I think that’s always fun.

If you had to pick: Twilight books or movies?Movies, because I’m an extremely visual person. I actually read the books after the movies, which was fun because I could see Kristen and Robert as Bella and Edward.